Men’s Health Month is a time to bring awareness to all the health issues men may face and reminding them to have annual visits with their doctor. Dr. Payton Flournoy, a family medicine doctor at Comanche County Memorial Hospital’s Goodyear Clinic, cares for Goodyear employees and their families.
“My advice for men is to get an annual physical,” he said. “Establish care with a doctor. A big problem with a lot of men, a lot of people have in general is they don’t have a doctor, and when they are sick, they don’t have a doctor to call and to go to the ER, they go to urgent care, and there’s no follow up after that.”
During this month, many clinics designate the number of new patients they’d like to see in one day. They do this because they want to spend more time getting to know the patient’s health and medical history. Dr. Flournoy says they try to make time for them if they come in but…
“It’s much easier to come in for a shorter visit to address the one single problem as to address you as a new patient along with your one single problem,” Dr. Flournoy said.
They’ve tried to make it easy for Goodyear families to come to the doctor by having an onsite lab, so they don’t have to go anywhere else after their appointment. They also have onsite x-rays making for quicker diagnosis.
He says many men usually think because they’re in their 20′s, 30′s and 40′s they don’t need to see a doctor because they’re healthy but says that’s one of the biggest mistakes they can make.
“What they don’t realize is that over the last two decades they have been slowly watching more TV, slowly not exercising, not eating right, and then when they hit 45, they come to me and say ‘doctor, I am so tired or uh, I’m having some chest pain,’ or one of the many things people will come here and say,” he said.
While going to the doctor, especially when you’re not sick, can seem inconvenient, regular checkups can help catch serious health conditions early.
“The biggest concern, especially with men, is going to be a cardiovascular disease that usually encompasses not only heart attacks and strokes but also hypertension,” Dr. Flournoy said.
He said it’s important for people to know their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Dr. Flournoy said it’s also important to know the impact smoking and drinking can have on your health.